


Alex Loses His Shirt

by kijayzx



Series: Stardew: Tales of the Valley [1]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Asian-American Character, BDSM, Chickens, Doctor/Patient, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, Latino Character, M/M, Male Character of Color, Mile High Club, Recreational Drug Use, Relationship(s), Romance, Sexual Content, Twinks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-05-15 15:30:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19298560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kijayzx/pseuds/kijayzx
Summary: The fates have a way of getting Alex naked, over and over again.





	1. Elliot and Alex at the Beach

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1: Alex loses his clothes, ends up with Elliot.  
> Chapter 2: Alex loses his clothes, ends up with Shane.  
> Chapter 3: Alex loses his clothes, ends up with Harvey.  
> 

I wake up like a television at full volume, wincing at the bright light and the wash of sound. It's hot, which means I slept in late, and I'm parched. I reach for the glass of water I always leave on my nightstand, only to find that I've already knocked it over in the night, and- ah yes, now it's coming back to me. The joint Shane gave me is in the puddle, soggy and useless, just like he is. 

My phone is dry, at least. _Come on, Shane,_ _asked for a sativa and ended up faceplanted instead._

The 'typing' animation starts up, and stays put for a moment. Knowing him, I have time, so I start the coffee before checking my phone again. 

Just a 'shrug' emoji.  _I want a refund_ , I reply. 

 _"Can't talk now, working @ Joja_."

I wonder how he'd like it if I stormed up there and told him what for. Sam told me that Shane's weed really helped him have productive writing sessions, but all I got was blacked out, to say nothing of a rough start today. Fortunately for Shane, a cup of coffee is about all I need to forgive anyone anything. It's not his fault I'm struggling to write lately. I'm the one who sits around every day waiting for inspiration to hit instead of making it happen on my own. 

Well, if it's going to be this kind of day, I might as well lean into it. I decide to take today off from trying to accomplish anything and just read a book instead.I head to the bookshelf, and let my fingers pore over the shelves. Finally they settle on a book of poems Leah gave me for my birthday last fall. I can contemplate these as I take in the sound of the waves.

I take the book outside with me and settle into the chair on my patio. I flip it open to the first poem and read it aloud in a low voice.

_"The harvest of the heart begins when-"_

_"_ Oh my  _god,_  Alex, I can't believe you used the last of the tanning lotion!"

I shake my head to myself. Of course. They _would_  be out here causing a commotion on a day when I'm in need of quiet. 

"It's  _my lotion_ , Haley! And I've already been out here waiting for you for an hour. You could have stopped by Pierre's while you were busy with whatever- or whoever- was keeping you."

Haley and Alex, head cheerleader and varsity quarterback in their own minds, never mind that they've both been out of high school for four years now. Do they even like being together? They never stop arguing.

"Yoohoo," I call out to them. "Hi you two! Please don't worry about the rest of us trying to enjoy a day at the beach!"

"Did he just say  _yoohoo?_ " Haley says sarcastically.

" _Quiet,_ Haley, he can hear you!" 

"I hope he does!" she says, then waves over at me. " _Yoohoo,_ Elliott, you don't own the beach just because you rent a crappy little shack that rising sea levels haven't carried away yet." 

I stand up to shout my retort, but... I've got nothing. Some master wordsmith I turned out to be. The heat under my collar travels up my face.

"That's what I thought," Haley says. She unhooks the back of her bikini before laying face down, her face turned away from me.

Alex looks down at her, then over at me, then puts his face in his hands before getting up from his towel and walking toward me.

Walking toward me, in just a speedo. 

Obviously I've noticed Alex around the village before, though I never had much occasion to take him very seriously. He's got the all-American  _everything_ going on, which is attractive if you aren't interested in anything under the surface. Shane may be a walking disaster but at least I know he feels things. Even Kent has war stories. Alex is just... a pretty boy, and that's it. 

Still, it's hard to look away from him.

"I'm sorry about Haley," he says when he reaches me. He leans un-self-consciously against the post holding up the patio cover. The light hits him in a way that accentuates his body perfectly. He's got a physique. It's that overly-chiseled, desperate-for-attention, selfie-ready body that's all over the internet, sure, but he wears it well. And goodness, he's tan. 

"Are you okay?" He asks. Suddenly I realize I've been staring, and I blush. "Haley can be a bitch, but you seem, like, incandescent about it." 

"That's a lot of syllables for you, isn't it?"

He steps back and looks at me aghast. "What is your problem, dude? Why do you think you're so much better than me?"

"I-- I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me. I'm having a rough day."

He folds his arms over his chest and looks over at Haley, who isn't paying any attention to what's going on over here.

"Alex. I mean it, I'm sorry. I don't think I'm better than you." I sigh. "How could I?"

His arms drop to his side, and he rolls his eyes. "It's easy to think whatever you want about someone you don't know anything about."

"You're right. I should get to know you better." I hesitate for a moment, then go for it. "Do you want to hang out here for a bit? You look like you need a break from the sun- and your girlfriend."

He laughs. "Haley is  _not_ my girlfriend."

"Really? You guys have everyone fooled."

"Like I said, people are very happy to make assumptions. I'm sure I've made a few about you. Why don't you grab me that beer and we can trade." He flashes his signature grin. 

I close the door behind me and lean back against it. Did I just do that? I got Stardew Valley's trophy boy, the pretty jock who's never set foot inside the library, to hang out with  _me?_  I quickly rush over to my phone to text Leah the news. She's been pestering me to stop sequestering myself in the cabin and try to make friends with some of the townies. 

After shooting off a few texts, and ignoring a couple from Shane, I realizing that I'm keeping him waiting, and grab a couple bottles from the fridge. Before I can head back out, I hear Haley's muffled voice from behind the door.

"I've been here for five minutes and you've already ditched me!"

"I didn't realize you needed supervision to lay there and be a pain in the ass!"

"Whatever, Alex. Have fun with your new boyfriend. Morris is taking me to the city for a fancy dinner tonight. Don't expect me to call you to tell you how it went."

I hear her stomp off. Timidly, I crack the door open and peek out. Alex looks nonplussed.

"Sometimes I wonder why I ever hang out with her."

I hand him his beer.

"Why  _do_ you hang out with her?"

He takes a sip, then a swig, then drains half the bottle. "I'll need something stronger than this if you want  _that_ story."

"Afraid the only inhibition-remover I have on hand is a few more of those. Shane's supposed to swing by after his shift to drop off some, uh... stuff, want me to tell him to grab you something on his way over?"

He looks me in the eye. "Some  _stuff_ , huh? Gosh, I wonder what  _Shane_ could be bringing the surfing poet who lives on the beach? No, I think whatever Shane is bringing you will help us break the ice just fine." He slaps himself on his flat stomach. "Fewer calories, anyway. But, uh, I might need to hide inside until he's gone?"

"You afraid of Shane?" I ask. Shane's usually faded and has always struck me as harmless.

"He owes Shane money," a voice says.

"Oh shit, uh, hi Shane!" Alex blushes and suddenly clams up. I realize that he's embarrassed for Shane to see him in his speedo. 

Shane eyes him up and down. "Looking good, Vasquez. If you can't pay, I know how you can make it up to me." 

Alex is still beet-red. 

"Uh, thanks for stopping by, Shane," I interrupt. "Forty, right?"

"Twenty. I owe you for earlier." I hand him the cash. "Sorry about that. If it makes you feel any better, while you were smoking my bedtime joint, I ended up wired all night playing video games. Anyway, don't let me keep you." 

He smirks, tosses me a baggie, smacks Alex on the ass, and walks off.

Alex looks like he's about to cry... but also, maybe, turned on. No, scratch the maybe- the speedo hides nothing.

"I, uh, have to ask."

"Oh my god," Alex responds.

"Maybe I should roll you a joint first," I add.

"Oh my god," he repeats.

"Are you okay?" I put my hand on his shoulder. He jumps.

"Let me go grab my stuff while you get that ready, okay? I'll be right back." 

I did not anticipate that I would interrogate Alex about his boner for Shane today, but here we are. 

Alex comes back empty-handed.

"I'm going to murder her," he says. I hand him the joint and a lighter and say nothing. "That bitch took all my clothes. I'm going to have to walk all the way home practically naked." He lights it and takes a big drag.

"You don't-" I pause for his coughing fit. "You don't have to go home yet." 

"Can I borrow your clothes?" He asks.

"Not until you tell me what that was about."

His jaw drops. 

"Also- Vasquez? I thought you were Evelyn and George's grandson- a Williams?"

"They're my mom's parents. My dad... Alejandro Vasquez."

"So you're half..."

"Half Mexican, yeah. I guess you can't really tell, except for how tan I get."

I take a puff off the joint and inhale it deeply. I look at Alex, and I can tell he's already feeling it.

I exhale. "And what exactly is it about Shane that gives you such a hard-on?" 

He blushes again, but only half as hard. "If you're not going to let me get dressed, then it's not fair that you get to be fully clothed."

That makes me laugh. He's getting aroused again. "I don't know, Alex, I think you like it."

Seeing him like this has cast Alex in a completely new light. He isn't a dumb jock, he's a dumb... twink?

He covers his crotch with his hands and groans. "Do you swear you won't tell anyone?" 

"Of course not. I'm going to write this all down and sell it around town as an exposé."

Finally, he laughs. 

"Shane was the first guy I-"

"Your first time with a guy was with  _Shane?"_ I guess he has that scruffy bad-boy thing going? If you like someone with no prospects?

He snaps his fingers at me. "Are you going to let me talk? No, you doofus, Shane wasn't my first time with a guy. Shane was the first guy who ever introduced me to... oh god, I can't believe I'm telling you this. Shane's really into S&M."

"I can see that, actually. You're just... I mean, you're handsome and in good shape and all that, but I have a hard time visualizing you getting anything out of bossing Shane around."

He stares at me, dumbfounded.

"Oh," I realize. " _Oh."_

"Yeah."

"Tell. Me. Everything."

 


	2. Alex Needs Shane's Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex tells Elliot about an intense evening with Shane.

It was another one of those interminable rainy spells we get every fall. I do my best to keep occupied, but there's not enough to do in this town if you can't get outdoors. Grandma and Grandpa are great, but they aren't exactly stellar entertainment. And even I have a limit to how long I can skip rope and do burpees before I'm bored out of my mind. Finally, I decided to go for a run, rain be damned. I put on my Nike tights, a lycra shirt and a waterproof windbreaker, and my trail running shoes. I'll get wet, but not waterlogged.

I decide to head out to the woods to the west of town. The rainfall is constant, fat wet drops that have me soaked before I even make it past Haley's place. But once I'm warmed up from the run, the only annoyance is the squishing inside my shoes. Having the woods to myself is a dream: I run up and down the bridges across the lake, wind in and out of the trees, dodge slimes in the distant reaches of the woods. After getting out five or six miles- stopping here and there to enjoy the views- I realize the sun'll go down soon. I pick up the pace and head back to town.

I'm easily the best runner in town, but more than ten miles is a lot, even for me, and especially in the rain. So by the time I'm close to town, coming up on Marnie's ranch, I'm toast. I check my fitness tracker: 7:15 mile pace over 10 miles. Not bad for the rain. I decide to pick it up and sprint the rest of the way home, but as I pass Marnie's, I notice some movement coming from the barn towards me. I turn to see which cow or goat of hers it might be- I have a few of my own favorites- but I slide on a patch of mud instead, and I eat it, falling into some gravel.

I thank the stars that nobody saw that, until-

"Holy shit dude, you okay?"

Oh, great. Shane.

"I'm... ouch... I'm fine," I say. Something stings, but I don't need him to see me looking like a doofus. I jump to my feet. "What are you staring at?" I say, then look down. There's a little bit of blood coming off a scrape on my shin, but it's not that bad. Then- oh god. The gravel I fell into ripped my tights. My entire package is just dangling for all to see.

Shane's jaw is askew, his eyes wide. One of his hands rises slightly from his side, pointing nowhere. I whip off my jacket and hold it in front of me. The white lycra shirt I'm wearing quickly goes see-through as it soaks through. I realize as I feel a breeze that one of my ass cheeks is also out. I can't run home like this. Even in the rain, someone will see.

"Do... you want to come... in?" Suddenly I realize that not only is Shane holding a chicken in one arm... he's drunk, too.

"Can you make sure that Marnie and Jas aren't milling around out there? I don't want to traumatize anyone."

"Shyeah right," he slurs. "Like Marnie would have a problem seeing this. Anyway, her and Jas are out of town this weekend. Just me holding down the fort."

Without waiting for a response for me, he heads inside, leaving the front door ajar. I don't have a choice but to follow.

Most of the house is dark but for a light down the hall. I've never actually been inside here, only on the other side of the fence, petting one of the friendlier cows. I hear Shane rustling about in his room, hopefully getting clothes for me. He's got quite a few pounds on me, but I could probably make do in them.

I walk into his room and he gestures toward his bed. He's holding a clean rag and a bottle. "Do you want to get out of your wet things? We've got to clean up those cuts, that gravel is probably filthy."

"I can, uh, take care of that myself, really, you don't have to."

"Just take them off," he blurts out. He briefly looks like he regrets it, stares at the ground for a second, but then meets my eyes again. My heart pounds in my chest- I'm still cooling down from the run, and the adrenaline rush from the falling and the pain and the sudden appearance of Shane. I start pulling my top off. It clings to my skin as it comes off.

"All that working out really makes a difference," Shane says.

"What do you mean?"

"You could barely get that shirt off around all those muscles." He flips open the bottle- it's hydrogen peroxide- and dampens the towel he's holding. "Sit down, this will sting a little bit."

I sit. It's silent, and Shane would probably have an easier time cleaning me off if it wasn't so dim, and the rain is pounding on the roof outside. Lightning flashes outside and the entire house shudders with the thunder almost immediately after. 

"You probably shouldn't go back out there until the lightning is over, you know." 

"I know."

He takes his time, gently swabbing at my cuts, pausing for me every time the peroxide causes me to gulp. Those shallow scrapes can hurt the most. After what seems like ages, he puts the towel down. He's on his knees in front of me as I sit upright on the side of his bed, and I can't help it, but the situation has me... tense. 

Shane can be a grump, and a mess, but... well, he's not unattractive really, and he carries his extra weight well. He's obviously got a little bit of muscle underneath from working on the farm. With his big puppy dog eyes and his floppy hair and his mellow, slightly sad demeanor, I end up just wanting to make him smile. 

"Take these off," he says, pulling on my tights around my knees. His hand is not technically anywhere near my dick, but it reacts as if he had stroked it. 

"You take them off," I say, and lift myself up off the bed slightly. Slowly, but hungrily, he brings his hands to my sides, grabs the waistband, and pulls what remains of my tights off of me. I settle my bare skin onto his bed, the down comforter warm and soft against me. And then startle when he throws the shreds back into my face.

"I'll be giving all the orders tonight, Alex." His chicken boks softly in the corner of the room. I'm aroused, and confused, but mostly the former. How did I end up naked in front of Shane? And when did Shane get so bossy? And why do I  _like it_ _?_

"What's... what's your chicken's name?" He puts a finger to my lips, shushing me. Instead he continues with the rag and peroxide, cleaning off the last of my cuts and scrapes. I feel like this shouldn't take as long as he's making it. And then suddenly I feel a wetness, a warmth, in my lap. Shane has gone down on me.

I didn't even realize I was hard, but now that I'm paying attention, I realize I'm a rock. Shane is careful, but confident, and rightly so. His hands are both at work, wandering my body, playing with my nipples, squeezing my balls, gripping my calves. I would never have guessed he had this in him. 

He stands in front of me, and suddenly it's his crotch that's in my face, though he's still clothed. 

"Your turn, stud."

I look up at him. He's got a woozy smile on his face. Unsure, I reach my hands forward to unbutton his fly, but he swats them away.

"Actually, stay put." He heads to the corner of his room and rummages through a drawer. "Close your eyes," he says, and against my better judgment I do. I hear metal clinking and then feel the mattress sag as he crawls behind me. And then, before I can react, it's happened- he's locked a pair of handcuffs around my wrists.

"What-- what is this?" I say, suddenly not clear on where this is going. He returns to where he was standing before.

"I don't want you to use your hands."

My jaw drops. I struggle, but it's no use- my arms are not going to be coming out from behind my back until Shane is ready. Watching me struggle brings a smile to Shane's face, and realizing that my reaction is exactly what he was going for makes me blush. He puts his hands on my shoulders and gently pulls me into him.

"Come on, pretty boy. You can do it."

I reach forward with my mouth, biting the corner of his fly. It takes a couple of tugs, but the button eventually comes loose. The zipper is easier. I lift the tab with my tongue, then bite gently, lowering it all the way to the bottom. His pants loosened, I tug them down and they fall to the floor. 

He's wearing a jock strap. It's clean, but it has his musk on it- he smells like grass, and sweat, and mud. Like I do after a game of gridball, actually. It's surprising, and comforting, and familiar. I notice a spot of wetness where the tip of his dick must be. I place my mouth on it over his underwear, and feel his bulge swell in response. I don't know if I'm imagining it or if I can actually feel his heartbeat down there. 

Shane's hands clasp behind my head, and he's less gentle this time as he pulls me into him, my open mouth first pressing against his erection, then being pulled upwards to the waistband of Shane's underwear. Instinctively, I take it into my mouth and yank it down. Even his cock is a surprise- beer bottle thick and a decent length, it flops out from the jockstrap and smacks onto my face. Shane snickers. I realize that besides his pants around his knees, he's still fully clothed and I... I see the remains of my clothes piled in the corner, Shane's chicken nestled in and asleep for the night. 

Suddenly his hands have taken control again and I feel myself gagging lightly as he presses my face onto his dick again and again. I suppress it, and thankfully my throat relaxes as his heavy member fills my mouth. My arms writhe helplessly behind my back, fists clenching and unclenching as I struggle not to choke on him.

"You like this, pretty boy?"

My response is muffled and unintelligible with an entire cock obstructing my airway, and anyway I'm not sure it would make a difference. I love it, I hate it, I'm hard as a rock, I'm humiliated, I'm confused, there's a chicken in the room, I could do this all night.

He groans happily and laughs again. "I know you do. I'm going to come. You're going to swallow. Understand?" But he's so close that I barely have time to affirm my very enthusiastic consent before he shoots into my mouth, and I swallow and swallow, barely believing what I'm doing, but loving it. After he's done, he continues to hold my head in place on his dick, and he folds forward, holding me rather sweetly considering the way he took such utter control over me. Finally, he slides my face off of him.

He shoves me to one side, and I fall to my side on his bed. He leapfrogs over me and spoons me from behind. Still cuffed, my hands find themselves on his package again, though it's no longer fully erect. I hold it gently, and feel as his hands wrap around my body. He takes my dick in his right hand, stroking very slowly. His thumb rests on the tip of my dick, rubbing my glans, even as his pinky presses into the base of my shaft and tickles my balls. He has no hesitation. He moves like he's a professional, and, indeed, it isn't long before I feel my balls struggling to rise. Shane feels it too, apparently, because in response he loosens his grip and stops stroking me right when I'm at the edge. 

"Oh, please, don't stop," I say.

"Beg."

"Please, Shane, please, I'm so close." 

His left hand suddenly moves around my body and up to my face. He presses his hand firmly over my mouth, stifling my speech just as I'm truly losing control of my faculties and am getting ready to swear fealty to him. My groans are muffled and I struggle to breath through my nose as he continues with his practiced hand, bringing me near to completion again. Then, again, right as I prepare to burst, he pulls away again. I squeal an embarrassing sound into his palm. 

"You have a choice," he says. "You can go home. I can unlock the cuffs, lend you something to wear, and off you go. We don't have to speak about this again."

My heart races as he speaks. He grabs my dick again, squeezing it so tight I wince.

"Or you can stay. I can keep you on edge all night. You can see a few of my other toys. You can be my toy. I'll put this hot body of yours to work. And then you can go home tomorrow."

With his hand on my mouth, he tilts my head toward his. And then lets go of it.

It requires no thought. " _I want to stay."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Part 3: Elliot finds out that Alex's experience with Shane isn't his only time with one of Stardew's bachelors.


	3. Doctor, Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Harvey's date gets cancelled, Alex fills in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the 1400 words it takes to get to the shirtless bit!

 When I'm done telling Elliott about Shane, it's late in the day. I'm sitting cross-legged on the floor, he's at his desk, and both of us have had a few beers. Elliot may as well be eating popcorn, considering how much he's been on the edge of his seat.

"I had no idea you were into that kind of stuff," he says. The look in his eyes is more curious than judgmental- envious, even.

"Neither did I," I answer. "Actually, I still don't know if I'm into it, or if I'm just into Shane."

"I still would have had no idea you'd be into someone like Shane." 

I laugh. "You're right, there."

Elliot's face shifts, serious suddenly. "He said you owed him money?"

"Oh, that. He obliterated me in fantasy football."

He looks relieved. "I was worried he had you hooked on steroids or something horrible."

"Hey! I'm all natural, Elliot. Everything you see here-" I jump up and flex my biceps for him- "Is the product of hard work."

He sighs. "Well, it's inspiring."

"Inspiration has nothing to do with it," I say, "There's nothing anyone wants to achieve that can't be arrived at through hard work."

Elliot turns and looks at the mess on his desk. Under the stacks of paper, I'm sure he has an interesting project going on.

"You're right. You're absolutely right." He turns back to face me, then takes off his shirt. "Here, sorry I didn't give you something to wear sooner." 

The shirt is clean, though slightly damp with the salt air and his scent. Hmm. Elliot smells like sandalwood, and his shirt is too small for me. He tosses me a pair of shorts next, and it's only when I catch them that I realize they, too, were the ones he was just in. 

"You can just give me something from your closet, you know." I can't help but check him out- he looks like a string bean in the clothes he normally wears, but hours spent on his surfboard every week have crafted a lean, tan body beneath. 

"I think I rather like the idea of sending you home in my worn clothing, actually. And I'm really hoping you'd like to stay longer next time."

"Next time?"

"When you come to return my clothes, of course." 

"Of course." I check the time. "Oh no, I'm late! I completely forgot I'm getting a physical at the doctor's office today." I head for the door.

"Call me," Elliot croons as I run towards my house. 

 

I probably cut quite the figure sprinting across town in too-tight clothes that are obviously from the Elliot Collection for Literary Nerds. Why do I have to live near the town square? Half the town hangs out there every day. I do my best not to see who's in the group of people gawking at me, hoping to spare myself the embarrassment later. I finally make it to Grandma and Grandpa's house and dash into my room before they've even looked up from the television. I swap Elliot's clothes for my own- a pair of jeans and a rugby shirt. From there it's just a block over to Harvey's clinic, and I make it in the nick of time. 

Maru jumps at the counter when I slam the door open. She clutches her cell phone to her chest as she recovers.

"I'm here! I made it!" I close the door more gently behind me before approaching the counter to check in.

No smile or anything from Maru. She waves me in while texting with her other hand. "Go on back, Alex. Dr. Liang will see you now." She's never seemed very impressed with me.

Still panting, I head in. "What's up, Doc?" I mime eating a carrot.

He smiles wanly. I've always had a soft spot for Harvey Liang. He's calm, kind, patient, and always impressed with my good cholesterol levels and low heart rate. He looks a little bit off. Well, he always looks a  _little_ bummed out, but a little extra today maybe.

"Nothing much," he sighs, "Except my healthiest patient coming in for a totally unnecessary checkup."

"An ounce of prevention is worth a gram of cure, Harvey, you know that."

"A pound," he tries to correct me. 

"A pound? Whatever. You okay? You seem down."

He blinks. He reaches to pick up his phone, but once it's in his hand, he just puts it back down again. 

"It's nothing," he says.

"Of course it's something," I say. "You're never like this."

He stares at his feet for a moment before looking back up at me, seeming to decide if I'm worth the trouble.

"I had a date with the new farmer, but he canceled on me."

"That's it? So what? Check my vitals, we'll hit the saloon instead!" The new farmer is a total snooze- all he ever does is run back and forth between Pierre's and his fields. And he's always giving everybody these random gifts, like everyone is supposed to be excited to get a bundle of amaranth once a week. 

"Well," he continues, "It's just that I spent quite a bit of money on a surprise for him, and it's non-refundable."

"Harvey, that guy's barely lived here a month. I don't think you should be making huge gestures yet. What was it?"

"A ride in a hot air balloon." He looks up at the model airplane on his shelf- he's always been obsessed with flying, one way or another. "I guess it was really more of a present for myself."

"No way, Harvey, that's totally romantic. I'm sorry it didn't work out."

"That was the idea, yeah." He takes off his glasses and squeezes the bridge of his nose. "Forget it. Yeah, I'll take you up on the saloon."

"Absolutely not, Harvey." I hop up onto the exam table and sit down. "I'll take  _you_ up on the hot air balloon ride."

His smiles. "Pun intended?"

"Pun?"

"Never mind," he laughs, then squeezes my bicep. How... forward? "I need to check your blood pressure. Roll up your sleeves?" 

"Oh. Um." I like the way the fabric hugs my forearms and don't want the fabric to stretch out, so I take off my shirt altogether instead. "Here, you've gotta check my lungs or something too, right?"

I track his eyes as they bounce around my body, checking me out piece by piece. Harvey probably thinks I'm as dumb as a rock, but he certainly likes the view. I wish he'd take me a little more seriously. 

Harvey blushes, realizing I'm watching him watch me. 

"You know what, we both know you're perfect, why waste time or a copay on this?" He picks up his phone and walks right out of the exam room.

I stare at a diagram of the musculoskeletal system on the wall, unsure of what to do next. The door pops back open. 

"Are you coming?"

 

Harvey drives us way out of town in his flashy car. Being a doctor must pay as well as being a professional athlete. Most of the ride is in silence, but it isn't too awkward. The sky is beautiful today, big puffy clouds roaming across the sky. The sunset will be one for the books, even from the ground. Finally, as we turn around a hill, the balloon comes into view- a solitary hot air balloon on a strip of concrete in the middle of nowhere.

I step out of the car, dazzled at the lengths Harvey went to for the farmer. He pops open the trunk and pulls out a picnic basket. 

"I never thought you would be interested in going on a date with me," he says. "Or else I would have asked sooner."

"Is this a date?" I ask. He freezes. "I guess I thought I was just your backup."

"You could never be someone's backup," he says. He takes off his glasses again, but this time leaves them off.

"You're... extremely handsome with those glasses out of the way," I say, suddenly realizing that was a shitty thing to say. "I mean, you're regular handsome with them. Extremely, without." I smile like an idiot.

He gazes back at me, looking puzzled, but amused. "It's fortunate for you that you're so charming, Alex. You're not exactly a poet."

"That's more of an Elliot thing. Shall we?"

 

Moments later, I'm standing back, watching in awe as Harvey masterfully controls the hot air balloon until it reaches an exhilarating, if dizzying, height. 

"It feels like I could touch the clouds," I say.

"That's why I love it up here." He reaches into the basket and pulls out a bottle and a couple of champagne flutes. 

"Allow me," I offer, taking the bottle from him. I love a good dramatic champagne opening. I pop the cork so that it flies straight up- and into the torch providing the balloon with all the hot air. The blast of fire lights the cork on fire before shooting it straight up, miraculously avoiding any of the balloon fabric before falling back down.

Onto me.

Harvey's face contorts in horror, and I feel the heat of embarrassment at my idiot mistake. Only it isn't embarrassment causing me to flush-

"I'm on fire!!" I tear off my shirt and throw it to the ground before realizing that the ground itself also seems quite flammable. I grab it, nearly burning myself as I throw it off the side of the balloon. My pants are also smoldering. Before I can even think about the consequences, I tear them off and chuck them overboard too, realizing as they float down below us that my underwear went with them. I clasp a hand over my mouth, and throw the other over... over myself, before turning to Harvey.

"Uh, the fire's out, at least?" 

He silently picks the bottle of champagne off the floor of the balloon's basket, and drains what hasn't spilled out of it into his mouth. He drops it back to the floor, then unbuttons his shirt and adds it to the growing pile as I watch on in baffled delight. Next thing I know he's holding my naked body next to his, his hands exploring me, pulling me close. His cheeks is against my cheek and I can feel it in him, the desire to bring his lips to mine.

I spare him the trouble. 

The sun has begun to set, and beams of light shoot up from below, the low clouds casting shadows into the sky, orange and purple and pink imbuing the entire world in its glow. It's only seconds since our kiss but the magic in the air and the adrenaline in our veins has combined into an excitement in our... in our... 

Suddenly it's not just light shooting into the sky, not only the clouds refracting light as they hang in the air before inevitably coming to earth. I close my eyes, feeling my veins pulsing, feeling Harvey next to me on the floor. I blink myself partially out of bliss and back into the real world. 

"I'm still seeing stars," I say.

He chuckles, his mouth still pressed against my body. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, but those are actual stars, not post-coital ones."

He's right. The eastern half of the sky has begun to dim and the new moon obscures nothing, distant stars and bright planets beginning to blaze with a beauty unmatched by any view I can get in town. 

"Is that Stardew Valley?" I ask, pointing at a cluster of lights.

"It seems so tiny from here," he replies. He pulls his pants back on, then looks at me. "What are we going to do with you?"


End file.
